Arcane Tussler PrC

[Machiavelli]

Here you go! Most of what I could say about this is found under "Concept:" but I'd like to point out that I already know an unarmed-attacking spellcaster in an odd dichotomy. I like roleplaying characters with twists and turns in their lives, so I tend to make PrCs with some interesting mixtures of prerequisite classes. For the Arcane Tussler, 6 levels of sorcerer/wizard will suffice, but that makes for a serious dip into a non-combat class. 4 levels of bard would work, too, or 2 levels of sorcerer/wizard and 2 of fighter. Let me know what you think.

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| Arcane Tussler |
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Concept:
The Arcane Tussler is blessed with both minor innate arcane powers and a measure of physical bulk. He has decided to channel part of his arcane abilities inward, to grant him exceptional control over his body's energies and to imbue his flesh with arcane power. In this pursuit he gains extraordinary physical capabilities. His body becomes his weapon, and his mind becomes the apendage with which his weapon is wielded and its power fully realized. His motivations for becoming a physical weapon may vary widely. A future Arcane Tussler may think it a waste to underutilize the physique he was born with, or perhaps he wants to be more able to defend himself in very close, brutal engagements. Perhaps he simply appreciates the shock value he shares with monks, when an unarmed man leaps into a fight and manages to be at least as effective as those armed with steel. Whatever the Arcane Tussler's motivations, his is a path of attuned energies and enhanced body, so he may lack some of the skill demonstrated by the stricter unarmed fighting classes. However none who watch him fight question his considerable usefulness in a close-combat tussle.

Prerequisites:
Base attack bonus +3
Permanently use 5 levels of arcane spell slots
...^--(can be split between multiple spell slots, each 0-lvl counts as 1/2 lvl)
Improved Unarmed Strike
Improved Grapple

Hit Die: d8
Skill Points: 2+Int per lvl

Weapon/Armor Proficiency:
The Arcane Tussler gains no proficiency with any weapons or armor.

Lvl BAB   Fort Ref  Will    Special                                  Spells
 1  +1     +0   +2   +0     Grasp 1st          Growth                +1 caster level
 2  +2     +0   +3   +0     Clever Grapple +1                        +1 caster level
 3  +3     +1   +3   +1     Powerful Build     DR 1/magic
 4  +4     +1   +4   +1     Grasp 2nd          Arcane Charge 1/day   +1 caster level
 5  +5     +1   +4   +1     Clever Grapple +2                        +1 caster level
 6  +6     +2   +5   +2     Strength +2        DR 2/magic            +1 caster level
 7  +7     +2   +5   +2     Grasp 3rd          Clever Grapple +3     +1 caster level
 8  +8     +2   +6   +2     Exceptional Build  Arcane Charge 2/day
 9  +9     +3   +6   +3     Clever Grapple +4  DR 3/magic            +1 caster level
10  +10    +3   +7   +3     Grasp 4th                                +1 caster level

......Spells: As the Arcane Tussler's skills advance, he hones his abilities as a spellcaster. At almost every level, his caster level increases in one arcane caster class, chosen immediately when he levels up. His increased caster level applies to the save DC of his spells, the damage of spells dependent upon caster level, and checks made to penetrate spell resistence. He gains no spells known or spells per day.
.....Grasp: The daily inward focus of the Arcane Tussler's spells infuses his flesh with arcane energy. Using a free action, he can use the touch spells he knows as supernatural abilities while grappling, delivering the effects using an unarmed strike in the midst of a grapple. He may apply this ability to any spell he knows of 0- or 1st-level that is delivered by a touch attack, which increases to include 2nd-, 3rd-, and 4th-level spells at 4th, 7th, and 10th Arcane Tussler levels, respectively. All melee touch attack spells function normally, but because ranged touch attack spells are intended to trigger some distance from the caster, they deal damage to both the target and the grappling Arcane Tussler. Spells with non-damage negative effects deal 1d6/spell level negative energy damage to the caster, while all spells that deal normal damage to the target deal 1 point per damage die. The Arcane Tussler can use his Grasp ability a number of times each day equal to his Charisma score. Delivering a spell's effects in this manner does not exhaust a spell slot for the day.
.....Growth: Starting at 1st level the Arcane Tussler applies his arcane skills in a constant effort to transmute his body and improve his physique. His height increases by 3 inches for every Arcane Tussler level, and his limbs become disproportionately long, but his posture droops and his reach remains the same. Also, at every Arcane Tussler level, he increases by 5 pounds plus 5 more pounds per size above Small. By themselves, these are superficial changes.
.....Clever Grapple: The Arcane Tussler knows how to use his changing physique to his advantage, gaining a +1 bonus at 2nd level to all grapple checks and attacks made while grappling. This bonus increases to +2 at 5th level, +3 at 7th level, and +4 at 9th level.
.....Arcane Charge: The magically altered nature of the Arcane Tussler's body allows it to be more easily warped and pushed through time and space, so that a burst of aggressive energy can cause limited teleportation. At 4th level the Arcane Tussler can use Dimension Door once per day as a spell-like ability to close the distance between himself and a foe, increasing to twice per day at 8th level. His destination must be adjacent to an opponent, using this ability counts as a move action, and upon arriving he must immediately make a melee attack against this opponent.
.....Powerful Build: From 3rd level onward, the physical stature of an Arcane Tussler allows him to function in many ways as a creature one size category larger. Whenever an Arcane Tussler is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the Arcane Tussler is treated as one size category larger if doing so is advantagous to him. He is also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature's special attacks based on size (such as Improved Grab or Swallow Whole) can affect him. An Arcane Tussler can use weapons designed for one size category larger without penalty, but only if he is proficient with them. However, his space and reach remain those of a creature of his actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of abilities and spells that change the subject's size category.
.....Damage Reduction: The Arcane Tussler's lanky frame belies a supernaturally induced toughness that only similar magic can pierce. At 3rd level the Arcane Tussler gains damage reduction 1/magic, which improves to DR 2/magic at 6th level and DR 3/magic at 9th level.
.....Exceptional Build: At 8th level, the Arcane Tussler gains the effects of Powerful Build again, as described above, but only if he is Small size or smaller. If he is at least Medium size, he retains the beneifts of gaining Powerful Build once, but he also gains +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, and a +1 competance bonus to his armor class.

Edit: Added Arcane Charge, damage reduction, and caster level progression; swapped Improved Toughness for Improved Grapple in prerequisites. Spaced out special abilities for legibility.

 

[Clay_More]

I kinda like the PrC, it isn't as blatantly overpowered as some PrC's I see around, nor is it as "scattered" as some tend to be (having powers that do all kinds of incoherent things). It is very focused and specialised, but it really excells in what it is focused at, which is a good thing and what a PrC is supposed to be all about. I would still say, that since the PrC doesn't offer much in the way of letting the PrC'ist getting up close and personal with his foe (there's no enchaned movement speed, no extra jump, no blink or anything similar), you might think of adding a single power that lets the character get up close to his foe. One could quite easily imagine a taker of this PrC getting frustrated when his enemies are up high on a wall, or using a simple Fly spell, even a Quickened Dimension Door. Think of something like "Arcane Charge" which allows the character to use Dimension Door solely to get in reach of a foe, wouldn't fall outside the theme of the PrC. Since so many spellcasting enemies know that they are powerless if grappled, many of them have the means to escape at least one or two grapple attempts through quickened spells.

 

[Machiavelli]

Hm, "Arcane Charge"... I like that. Is that an existing ability I could look up, or one you made on the fly?

My first thought (which I went with so as not to add too many wonderous abilities to the PrC) was to let the player come up with a way to close the distance him/herself. After all, a 4th-lvl bard can be pretty sneaky, with a decent amount of spell points in Move Silently and Hide, and using the "Shape Sound" spell. Or a 6th-lvl wizard/sorcerer can use Invisibility, Fly, and such to be sneaky or get around obstacles.
And if all else fails, there are spells that can be cast. Even a 2nd-lvl spellcaster has a few uses of Magic Missile and Expeditious Retreat.

Edit: Actually, a wizard would have to be 3rd-lvl (plus 2 levels in a 1/1 BAB class) to qualify for Arcane Tussler, and then he'd only have 2 cantrips or 1 1st-lvl spell left to use per day. A sorcerer could get by with a single level (plus 3 levels in a 1/1 BAB class) to qualify, but he'd have 1 cantrip left per day. The 4th-lvl bard has exactly the same problem, but without the too-low BAB.
With bonus spells from high scores, of course, things get less tight, but not by much.

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

Simple build but very nice, definately a niche here. I think it would be fair to give this class +1 caster level per level (only for calculating CL, no new spells known/per day), so that the touch spells they do use deal decent damage as they progress in level, and so that any personal buffs they may have (Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, Fly, Haste, etc..) are harder to dispel. I think you can substitute Improved Toughness for Improved Grapple, because it doesn't seem to be powered enough to deserve somewhat of a waste of a feat.

Other potential ideas would be to grant it DR 1/- at levels 3, 6, and 9 perhaps, to make up for the previous caster level's lack of defenses. Grappling, mainly with monsters, is hard work Considering lowering the BAB to moderate, then granting them unarmed damage as per a monk (stacking with any previous monk levels), and changing the Clever Grapple ability to 1st and every other level (meaning he'd still go up a point in Grappling his first level). If this were to be done, I'd probably take either the DR addition as well, or perhaps allow one or two grapple-related bonus feats along the way.

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

Btw, the best way for an Arcane Tussler to get in a grapple I think would be to wear his mage robes, cast magic missile or fireball at an opponent have a Protection from Arrows spell up. When your opponent comes rushing to get you with that nasty greatsword you can then turn the tables on 'em.

 

[Machiavelli]

+1 caster level per level (only for calculating CL, no new spells known/per day)

Great idea! 'Twas something I'd overlooked completely.

any personal buffs they may have

Bards are set as far as buffs go. Otherwise, It looks as though there won't be many spell slots for buffs left per day after meeting prereq's, unless the player takes more than the minimum spellcasting levels. In that case, I'd like to keep the full BAB progression to make up for it. I think I'll add Clay_More's "Arcane Charge" ability, so that perhaps the distance to a foe can be closed before those buffs become necessary.

substitute Improved Toughness for Improved Grapple

Done. Although Improved Toughness is hardly a waste for a melee fighter (IMHO) Improved Grapple makes much more sense.

grant it DR 1/- at levels 3, 6, and 9 perhaps

Also a good idea, I think, especially in light of the likelyhood that players would take a few more levels than they need in a spellcasting class.

Consider lowering the BAB to moderate, then granting them unarmed damage as per a monk (stacking with any previous monk levels)

I'm irrationally, personally biased against monks. The Arcane Tussler is meant (in part) as a means to the same ends as a monk, without actually BEING a monk. Toward that goal, the Grasp ability adds to unarmed damage a few times each day.

 

[Clay_More]

The monk falls into the category of being the least played class in my campaigns (even Bards are more popular), simply because the East-Asian style doesn't fit into all campaigns. The Arcane Tussler has a far more Greek wrestling style over it, and I could more easily imagine the Arcane Tussler being practiced in places where the standard monk would be out of style (Cormyrian Monk? Seems illogical. Cormyrian Tussler that has gained his skills through underground wrestling matches? Far more logical).

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

The reason why I suggested the Arcane Tumbler gain unarmed damage then would be to give him something to do besides use his Grasp ability in a grapple to deal damage. Currently, Grasp is a useful ability, but when you can only do it a few times per day, you're not going to use it on a minion when you could save it for a stronger opponent. So then what do you do? You can only attack with a small weapon while grappling, so he would be dependent on carrying a dagger with him or spiked glove, perhaps, to deal any damage whatsoever (otherwise he's stuck with 1d3 unarmed damage). Which is fine if that's your vision, of course. Another potential fix would be to allow Grasp to be used infinitely, and simply make the progression up the ladder what level spells he's allowed to use-1st level spells at 1st level, 2nd level spells at 3rd level, etc...Also, there aren't a lot of touch spells in the PHB, so it might be wise to allow you to use ranged touch attack spells as touch spells.

There doesn't seem to be an easy solution though, and you don't want to have the opposite of what you had in the first place, too many clunky abilities. Just some food for thought

 

[Machiavelli]

Hmmm, Furryfoot. I almost thought I was done with this PrC, 'till you posted >.<

There aren't alot of high-level melee touch attacks. Usually the high-level ones are touch attacks simply to balance the fact that they kick butt, Temporal Stasis and Imprisonment being prime examples. If I progress the usable spell levels, where do you think I should cut it off? 4th level? How about uses/day being equal to your Charisma score, instead of just infinite?

I like the idea of allowing ranged touch attacks as well, but because the ranged spells are intended to detonate some distance from the caster, I'll have them deal a little damage to the Arcane Tussler on each use. Spells with non-damage negative effects deal 1d6/spell level negative energy damage to the caster, while all spells that deal damage to the target deal 1 point per damage die. This little bit of damage won't be influenced by the class' damage reduction, either (which would be a glaring flaw), because the damage reduction is pierced by magic damage. It seems a sensible trade-off for the lots of extra damage usually offered by the ranged spells.

Edit: I'd also like to point out that you can use a Shortsword in a grapple, which with the effects of Powerful Build could be a Large Shortsword and deal 1d8 damage. Against a minion, that's hardly trivial. You may even take the Earth's Embrace feat, which deals 1d12 extra damage on a successful pin. Again, against meer minions a pin should be plausible, and 1d12 damage can be lethal.